The present disclosure relates to the field of computer systems, and specifically to computer systems that support virtual reality interfaces. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to augmenting visual virtual reality displays with tactile virtual reality outputs.
Virtual reality (VR) is an area of computer technology that creates a simulation of a physical world using immersive multimedia. This immersive multimedia provides outputs that are detected by a user's vision, hearing, and other senses, in order to give the user the illusion of experiencing a real physical world, rather than simply seeing and/or hearing a representation of the physical world.
While VR headsets provide visual immersion for gaming and other full-immersion experiences, current VR systems do not effectively support tactile sensations that involve the entire body of the user. That is, while a user can wear gloves and bodysuits that simulate touching an outside environment, such gloves/bodysuits provide very limited tactile sensations, due to the limited range of movement of tactile emulators (e.g., vibrating components, contracting components, etc.) found in such gloves/bodysuits. That is, while such gloves/bodysuits can emulate the feeling of a mild wave's motion, the user is not actually pushed around by the glove/bodysuit. Thus, the user never achieves a true simulation of movement/motion.